Raised and Answered

Well, that didn’t take long. The same day I question the defense of White Sox centerfielder Luis Robert he makes an incredible catch. Show me up like that anytime you want, Luis. With the Sox leading 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Maikel Franco led off for the Royals and jumped on the first pitch from Alex Colome. Borrowing a page from Wee Willie “Hit ’Em Where They Ain’t” Keeler, Maikal lined the ball into the gap in right center. Because Franco is a right-handed pull hitter, Robert was playing him far over in left-center. But when the ball went right, so did Robert. According to the story on MLB.com, Robert covered 86 feet in 4.5 seconds to make a catch that Statcast calculated would fall in for a hit 85 percent of the time. What’s worth noting here is that Robert wasn’t outrunning a mistake, as is often said of athletic but not particularly good outfielders; no, he was set up exactly where he should have been for Franco. You hang a star on that play, friends, as Ed Farmer used to say, Here’s hoping Robert builds on that catch. He’s already a plus outfielder, Aaron Rowand with a better arm in my book. Now, he needs to move into Jim Landis/Ken Berry/Adam Engel territory. There’s plenty of time for that, I hope. Next up is Sox second baseman Nick Madrigal. “He fields like I did in eighth grade,” Clare said on Friday during her visit. Allow me to explain. The first thing coaches noticed about my daughter was her bat; after that, it was her range and arm. So, they put her at shortstop. Things did not go well. Clare had this tendency to slap at the ball rather than field it cleanly. Then, she’d pick it up and throw it God knows where. Once the coaches shifted to second base, the slapping went away, and the kid turned into an all-conference worthy infielder. The problem with Madrigal is he’s doing the same thing, but there’s nowhere to shift him from second base. Calling Yolmer Sanchez, calling Yolmer Sanchez. Your team needs your expertise and a willingness to share it. Please respond.